Lemon Angel Pie is an all time favorite at our house, hands down my favorite dessert ever!! The combination of light lemon filling and meringue crust is unbeatable. And it has definitely stood the test of time. We have been enjoying this recipe for almost 30 years!

I first had Lemon Angel Pie when my oldest boy was only 4 years old! I was at a Preschool Board Meeting and the woman hosting the meeting served this as dessert. As soon as I took my first bite I knew I had to have the recipe.

Our family has been enjoying this as our favorite Easter dessert ever since. There is just something about Easter that says lemon to me! It just wouldn’t be Easter without our favorite lemon dessert – Lemon Angel Pie.

The great thing about this recipe is you can make it the day ahead – in fact you need to make it the day ahead thus making it a perfect dessert for Easter dinner! Hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

How to Make Meringue Crust

Start by making the meringue crust. You beat together egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar. You are suppose to beat it until it becomes stiff but not dry. I have made this pie many times when the egg whites don’t get stiff. It ends up somewhat thick and shiny but definitely not stiff but that’s o.k – just pour it into the buttered pie pan and I promise it will be o.k. Chilling your bowl before beating the egg whites can help them to fluff up better.

The other thing – when you remove it from the oven – don’t worry when the beautiful, puffed-up, golden brown crust begins to crack and fall. It is suppose to do that.

How To Make Lemon Angel Pie

While the meringue crust is baking, you can make the filling. Combine the egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice, lemon rind and salt into a microwave safe container and mix.

Then, cook the mixture until thickened in microwave for 4 minutes (stir every 30 seconds) and allow to cool.

While the lemon filling cools, whip 2 cups of whipping cream.

Then, combine half of the whipped cream with the cooled lemon mixture and fold to combine.

Pour into the meringue crust, and then cover with the remaining whipped cream. The pie is very sweet so you do not need to sweeten the whipped cream.

The pie is so light and wonderful it almost just melts in your mouth. It is the perfect ending to any meal, especially Easter dinner when you just need something light and lovely.

Hi – I’m Leigh Anne! Food, family and friends are three of my favorite things. I love sharing easy, delicious recipes and entertaining ideas that everyone will love. When she started her blog, Your Homebased Mom, over 9 years ago she had no idea that it would one day house over 2,400 recipes and ideas! .

Just tried this and wanted to tell you I got the white to stiff. The trick was from my grandma years ago. Just put your mixing bowl in the freezer for 3 minutes! Works every time! Thanks again it is wonderful! Gretchen.

Thanks so much for the recipe-I lost it in fire I had in my house- My old fiances mom made this for us 45 yrs ago!! I used to model and it was the only fattening thing I would eat-and then I had seconds and thirds-THEY KNEW it was my favorite-My daughter told me about your sight last week and I have been really enjoying it and trying the recipes and basking in lots of memories that resurfaced – Keep up the good work!! We adore you!!

Ah…sounds heavenly, yet another recipe to print and add to the list! My husband doesn’t like whipped cream and not much of a lemon fan, but I am..so making it for company is great as we can have another flavor of pie or ice cream for him.

Thanks so much. She has been having all kinds of stomach issues, has had the upper GI, radio active testing for Gallbladder, etc. and all come back normal. We are headed to a naturopath in a few weeks and hopefully he will help. He really helped a son of mine several years ago when there was a lot of food allergies involved. The tests she has had say she isn’t celiac but I know those aren’t always accurate. We may just try taking her off gluten to see if it helps. I’ll keep in touch – would love some ideas and recipes!!

HI This is great! I need a gluten free recipe myself! I don’t know who Delta Whiskey is- but she mentioned some gluten free flour combos and recipes for cooking. I’m really looking for some baking options- I’m not sure if there is an easy way to get those passed along by chance? I’d really appreciate it. I don’t have Celiac disease- I have Crohn’s disease- and I’m sensitive to gluten, dairy, and some other things. ( I can do dairy in small, infrequent instances)- It will be worth it for this recipe! Thanks!

I’m trying this recipe for our Easter dinner tomorrow. It’s always a scary idea to try a recipe for the first time when dining with others. I’m sure, though that it will be delicious. Thanks for the recipe!

I decided late last night to make this for Easter dessert. I also made the strawberry spinach salad from this blog. It was very easy to make and I loved that the pie was a make ahead item. Very light and airy, loved the crunch of the meringue crust. One of our guests who doesn’t like lemon desserts decided he would have a piece after he saw it. Delicious! I know I will be making this again.

This dessert looks absolute yum and economical too. its not time consuming also to prepare. Could u plz tell me what sugar did u use. the normal fine granulated one or castor sugar. Thanx for sharing the recipe. uv got an amazing blog too and im sure and am excited to learn a lot from u.

This looks luscious…I like the idea of meringue on the bottom instead of a pie crust – bet it adds a nice crunch like a macaron cookie. I was going to make banana bread today but found this instead – your picture made me salivate…

Oh. My. Goodness. My husband is going to go off his nut when I make him this! I’ve never seen anything like this (not here in NZ anyway) and that first photo with it half eaten on the plate is making me positively salivate! Off to Mum’s house to raid the lemon tree now…

My Scottish Great Grandmother used to make this for birthdays and Christmas. When she passed away in the early 70’s, the recipe went with her. Our whole family loves this but because it is so rich we renamed it “Pie From Hell”. Sinfully delicious! We used to put cream of tarter in the crust meringue to make it stiffen. Can’t wait to try it!

Someone shared this recipe at our local Coffee shop. I googled it to make sure it didn’t need cornstarch to thicken it. Also appreciated the plain whipped cream without additional sugar….am planning to make it tomorrow for Easter Sunday dinner.

My girlfriend saw this recipe on pinterest and wanted to have it for her birthday. The only problem was she didn’t have anyone to make it for her since she moved from Seattle to BatonRouge. She is not much of a baker LOL so she wasn’t going to do it herself. I was able to visit a few weeks before her bday and we made it together (ok, I made it for her). OMG!!!!! We LOVED it! Thank you for posting the recipe!!! I am even making it for the Easter brunch I go to every year, and taking two! Just wanted to say Thanks again!

Leigh Ann I have a question about this pie, I made it and it was very good, loved the filling and the topping, wonderful, but I have a question about the meringue crust??? OK, so when you whip your egg white and put the sugar in, after you butter your pie plate do you just dump it into the pie plate and level it off or do you make it like crust and go up the sides and make in indention? (gosh I hope I am making sense here)…next time you make it could you post a picture of how your meringue looks in the pie dish B4 baking it? Also I got my egg whites to stiffen up too, I am wondering if less sugar could be used, the crust was very sweet and was wondering if less than a cup of sugar could be added? ps…congrats on your son’s engagement!

Since I never seem to be able to get my meringue too stiff I put it into the pie dish and try to push it up along the sides but it usually slides back down. It still puffs up while it bakes and the edges form – the center falls and then the shape is formed. I have never cut down on the amount of sugar but I am sure you could experiment with it. I love the sweetness and lightness of this dessert.

I am thinking to maybe put a little sugar in the whipping cream that goes on top. Just in case anyone eats it without some of the filling with it. Seems like it would taste bland without. Is that going to make it too sweet? Just never seen it done without sugar…

Hi Leigh Anne, This looks delicious! I want to make it tonight and I want to just clarify that I add the whipped cream tonight and keep it all in the fridge overnight? I usually don’t add any whipped topping until I serve so I want to just make sure I understand correctly since this is make a day ahead. Thanks for the recipe.

WOW…that looks amazing! I have avoided meringue most of my life because of my family’s pavlova (they’re all British), but this I could definitely eat 🙂 You make the most amazing pies Leigh Anne, I am so glad I found your blog!

Hi! You were the link before me on the Handmade Tuesday link party! I just wanted to stop by to say hi! You are so talented! If I made this there is no chance it would turn out like this! Congrats on another successful pie!

Leigh Ann, this looks like a fan favorite, I dont think I have seem a meringue shell made like this, my husband loves lemon meringue so this should be a hit. Thanks Heres an invitation to add your blog toJapanese Gardens & Geisha Girls WW w/Linky

Stopping by from Katherine’s Corner. I just LOVE all things lemon, so when I saw this I had to see what it was about. It looks soo yummy! I have some fresh lemons that Grandma sent me from her lemon tree in AZ that are calling for something like this 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing.

We are married 50 years 6/12/15. For many years I made this for my Husband’s birthday. Before me, his Grandmother did the honors. I received The Joy of Cooking cookbook for my wedding shower from her to always have the recipe. My last few times making it for a group I doubled the meringue amount and baked it on a parchment lined cookie sheet with great results. The 1/4 tsp per 2 eggs McCormick suggestion (as below) is a good one as it held it’s shape sans pie plate sides with a concave interior I made before baking. Strawberries(I halve or whole) really enhance the looks and add both color & taste!

I just made the meringue crust, and it beat up beautifully stiff. I added 1/2 tsp of the cream of tartar after reading on the McCormick label to “add 1/4 tsp per 2 egg whites for stability in meringues and souffles.” That may have been the trick. It was stiff enough that when I put it in the pie dish I was able to use my silicone spatula to shape it so it was concave in the center, making a slight well for the filling when ready, and it maintained that shape after cooled. Thank you for sharing this recipe! It is a very yummy, light lemon pie that will be perfect for Easter tomorrow!

I couldn’t wait to try this recipe and did everything like recipe said. I cooked for 45 minutes and saw it rise above the pie dish. After taking it out of oven, it partly went down but one side remained high and it never did touch the pie dish. What did I do wrong???

Leanne, this looks incredible! I don’t like normal pie crust, and my husband’s a lemon dessert-a-holic, so this could be the perfect treat for us. Thanks so much for sharing. Visiting today from Marvelous Mondays.

I made this recipe for the second Easter in a row after finding it on your website last year. It was even better than I remembered it. So light and delicious. We had company over for Easter dinner and although I made a carrot cake as well, the Lemon Angel Pie was the clear favorite. I think I’ll skip the carrot cake next year and just make 2 of these. I am tempted to try a version of it using mango curd or lime instead of the lemon just for fun.

I made this over the weekend. Delicious! I had quite a bit of meringue left over after filling pie plate 1/2 full, as pictured. So a person could reduce the egg whites by 1 and the proportionate amount of sugar, as well, and have plenty of meringue for the crust. Also, I ended up having to use Cool Whip (or off brand) as a sub for the whipping cream. In my attempt at whipping the cream, I ended up accidentally making butter. I believe this was because my whipping cream wasn’t completely chilled??, not sure, but it was a nice addition to Easter dinner having the homemade butter.

This looks soooo good! Thank you for sharing. You will be one of the features from the Make it Pretty Monday party at The Dedicated House. Pop on in and grab a feature button!! Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse

These look absolutely delicious and this week, I have this recipe feature on my blog in Tasty Recipes Featured #Recipes Hope you can stop by and take a look. Post any other recipe in our linky as well. Have a great week, Karren

This sounds amazing! Love the meringue crust — sounds much easier than the intimidating pavlova meringue! Definitely on my to do list since husband’s favorite pie is lemon meringue! Love the microwaved filling too. You are featured this week on Busy Monday at A Pinch of Joy! I hope you will stop by and grab a Featured Button from the Button Box at the top of the sidebar. Pinned.

I just made the pie and I was wondering about the filling. Crust came out great but the filling didn’t make that much for me. It barely spread across the crust. Seems like there should have been more. Do you think I did something wrong or is it supposed to be a really small layer. Thanks!

Uggg. I’m so lame! Your comment made me re-read. Even though I read the instructions a few times, I had already decided to use pre made whipped topping (even though you said it was sweet enough, I’ve never met a dessert that I thought was too sweet!) so I read the “1/2 whipped topping” as 1/2 cup. So I’m missing some, but I’m sure it will still be good. (we’re having it tomorrow and my kids and I are so excited!) It’s been hard not to take a test bite but the lickings of everything were so good! You’re so fantastic for getting back to me so quick!

Made this tonight for a party tomorrow. Thank heavens for your pictures of the crust. I had no idea how that was supposed to look and I was a bit alarmed at how huge it got. But it’s cracking and falling beautifully right now. 🙂 Can’t wait to try it!

I just made your pie. It’s chilling in the fridge right now. 🙂 Anyway, one reason your meringue might not be getting stiff enough is you are adding the sugar at the wrong time. Sugar should be added to meringue after soft peaks. If you add it when the eggs are just foaming, even with cream of tartar they will never get beyond the soft peaks.

Yep. I was going to say the same thing. Add the sugar gradually after you get the whites stiff. It might not matter for this pie but if you want to put meringue on top, that technique should help. Can’t wait to try this!

I’m loving your G/F recipes!! My daughter and I both found out recently we have sensitivity to gluten. You mentioned your daughter can’t drink cows milk. My daughter is also lactose intolerant (poor girls). That said! Do you have suggestions for making whipped cream without dairy?

I just completed this recipe using coconut cream, it is absolutely delicious! Find a good can of coconut cream, chill it overnight, remove the cream but leave the water behind. Whip it as if you would with dairy cream, in a chilled bowl, I also added a bit of vanilla sugar. You could probably use 2 cans to follow the recipe exactly. I just didn’t top it with any cream. Oh so delicious!!!!!

Our family has been enjoying this pie for Passover for four generations! It was my grandmother’s recipe. She didn’t mix the whipped cream with the lemon curd, but same general idea. I’m going to try this one for our family’s seder this year.

Used to make this with mom when j was little. We lost the recipe and haven’t made it in years. Sooo happy I found this again. Its cooked and ready for easter dinner today! Thank you thank you thank you! Happy Easter!

Just wanted to stop by and say “Thank You!!” for this recipe!! I made it for Easter lunch (for about 30 people) and it has become a family favorite!! My mom requested TWO for Mother’s Day and today at a family gathering I made it but used key lime instead of lemon, by request from my brother-in-law, and it was also fantastic! Thanks again! Love your blog!

I never comment on blogs but had to this time. I just popped the lemon pie in the fridge to be ready to serve tomorrow night. Thanks for sharing such a fun recipe! Easy, rustic looking, make-ahead and full of lemony deliciousness. I was licking the spoon! I’ve had too many “Pinterest fails” but this one is definitely not one of them. Also, it’s gluten-free and my husband will be able to enjoy it as well. Thanks again.

Sandy, I hope you and your family enjoy this one as much as we have over the years. It is truly my favorite dessert of all times and I have made it hundreds of time and it has never failed me yet!. It’s like biting into a little piece of heaven.

If you leave the crust in the oven when it is done, but wedge open the oven door and keep it slightly ajar with a wooden spoon and let it sit there – when you take it out it won’t fall or crack!

I think it’s the cream of tartar that stops it from getting thick thick. I can’t get cream of tartar where I live so to make a pav (same same) I use three egg whites to a cup of sugar;; teaspoon of salt (helps to make the whites thick) and about a tablespoon lemon juice – stands up like mountain peaks. Good luck.

To whip egg whites stiff: Start with room temperature eggs (or whites.) Place whites and cream of tartar in a clean, grease-free bowl. Whip using the whisk (wire) attachment for your electric mixer, until whites start to get fluffy. Commemce to sprinkle in sugar during last 2-3 minutes of whipping.

Hi – I can’t wait to make this pie!! It looks amazing! Just wondering if I could cook the filling on top of the stove as I don’t really use my microwave other than for re-heating. How long should I cook this on the stove for? Thanks!!

Oh my gosh! I don’t usually post comments on (gluten-free) recipes I find but …. I just HAD to for this one. I made this for Thanksgiving this year. We were 8 people total, and we had five pies to eat… mine being the only truly gluten-free one in the mix. This lemon angel pie was the only one to go! Everybody loved it and wanted a piece to take home! It’s truly delicious … especially after a full holiday meal, it’s a nice light dessert. Thank you so much for this recipe. I am so glad I happened upon it on-line one nite.

Yikes! What did I do wrong? It got big and puffy alright but I believe it’s un useable. I buttered both the bottom and sides of pie plate and used a convect oven at 300 deg for 45 mins… Will try again. It’s for Easter dessert tomorrow…..IMG_0070.JPG, IMG_0071.JPG

Eileen, If you sent photos I can’t see them. It does get big and puffy but then it settles and the crust will shrink and crack, it is suppose to do that. After you fill it, refrigerate it over night and the crust softens up.

My microwave must be on steroids. It overflowed between 3:00 and 2:30. It was already thickened, but it had a really odd texture – perhaps the ratio of liquid to grated peel was ruined. I went ahead and used it anyway, but I can’t help but wonder if the chewy bits are egg… I’m not serving it tomorrow (Easter), because I’m too worried I’ll make someone grossed out. My merengue looked super nice and fun, though. I’m tempted to try again…..

Your microwave might be newer and cook hoter than mine – try either lowering the heat on your microwave or cook it for less time, just until it thickens. If you beat the eggs and sugar together well you shouldn’t have bits of egg.

Hi, This looks great, but I have a couple of questions and one comment.

1. We’re not big lemon fans at our house, but we do love lime. Could we substitute lime juice, zest, for the lemon and keep the same ratio of other ingredients? 2. We do not use a microwave. Can you tell me the best way to modify this so it can cook on a stovetop? 3. Comment – I saw your mentions of going gluten-free. I’ve been GF since 1999. Get a book called “Cooking with Coconut Flour” by Dr. Bruce Fife. Not only gluten free, but grain free, high in protein, high in fiber, low in carbs and unbelievably delicious recipes. Thanks so much!

This looks lovely! I have some lemon curd that I made for a yogurt topping. I’d like to use what I have, but don’t have a good idea on the amount. Would you be able to tell me about how much I should incorporate into the whipped cream? I’m looking forward to making this pie! Thanks!!

Allison, I have actually never measured the amount but I would guess it’s about 3/4 of a cup to a cup of lemon curd. It is incorporated into half the whipped cream, the remaining whipped cream is added to the top. It’s my favorite pie ever!

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Food, family and friends are three of Leigh Anne's favorite things. . Leigh Anne welcomes you into her kitchen and her life on a daily basis through her personable, down to earth, style and her readers often think of her as their neighbor next door.